Wednesday, April 13, 2011

1000 Posts!

That’s right. As of this post, there are exactly 1000 posts on Transforming Seminarian over the nearly six-year lifespan of the blog.

Normally, on an occasion like this, it is appropriate to write something especially profound, reflecting on the journey of the past few years.

Because I like to defy expectations every once in a while, I’m going to write about something utterly unimportant.

I want to discuss the Cheesy Double Decker Taco.
The Cheesy Double Decker Taco is the latest item to be added to Taco Bell’s value menu. It costs 89 cents.*

That’s actually very odd.

Why is it odd, you ask? Well, as the picture illustrates quite ably, the Cheesy Double Decker Taco is little more than a regular taco, with an extra flour tortilla and cheese wrapped around it. I’m actually not entirely sure how that makes it different than the regular Double Decker Taco that’s been around for years, but that’s not the point.

The point is that the regular taco costs 99 cents.*

Do you see the oddity here?

Take something that costs 99 cents, and add something to the outside of it, taking nothing away from the original in the process. Do you expect the resulting creation to cost less than the original item?

I don’t.

The power of marketing is truly staggering.*I'm aware that not all Taco Bells have the exact same prices for every item, so your mileage may vary. Even so, I'd be willing to bet that most Taco Bells are using a similar pricing structure at the moment.